Access All Areas

Charity information

Access All Areas

Access All Areas is a theatre company for adults with learning disabilities based in Hackney, East London. Our professional theatre company creates award-winning, urban and disruptive perfomances by learning disabled adults.
Our community projects celebrate communication and develop individual performance skills: Black Theatre company, Departure Lounge and Spinning Wheel.
We train actors with MLD on our award winning Performance Making Diploma at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama

To advance the education of persons with learning disabilities, in particular, but not exclusively through the promotion of the arts of drama, theatre, dance, music and related activities, with a view to developing life skills and improving the conditions of life of such persons in Hackney, east London.

Using the power of creativity, we aim to enable those people with a broad range of learning disabilities to be able to develop their social and communication skills and to develop independent life skills in order for each person to live fulfilled lives out in the community. Rainbow theatre company began in 1976 and pioneered the way for people with learning disabilities to become self expressive and create the shows they want to produce for the general public twice per year. Our Spinning Yarn project works with those members who have profound and multiple learning disabilities where touch, movement, music and sensory orientated storytelling, give those members an opportunity to develop their fine motor skills in a safe space.

The Train me Up strand allows those members to gain recognised qualifications in theatre related skills such as workshop leading or technical backstage skills. The Black Cab theatre company is a professional company that promotes the acting talents of the group and produce more experimental performances. This group is open to casting opportunities with members gaining parts on BBC's Doctors and Holby City programmes and the Paralympic Opening Ceremony